I am an entrepreneur and communications expert from Salt Lake City, founder of Snapp Conner PR, and author of Beyond PR: Communicate Like A Champ The Digital Age, available at http://amzn.to/1AO0PxX. I am also a frequent author and speaker on Business Communication. The opinions I express (especially when tongue in cheek) are entirely my own. My newsletter is the Snappington Post, available at http://bit.ly/1iv67Wk

Social Media 'Sneezing' - The Germ You Really Do Want To Spread

Have you heard the term social media “sneezer”? Here’s a hint—it has nothing to do with the flu. I heard the term from Seth Godin, who wrote about the concept in his book “Ideavirus” to describe the incredible power of social media in the hands of those who influence others.

Social media unveils the title of Dan Brown's newest book on the Today Show (photo courtesy of Dan Brown and Random House Books)

For example, mommy bloggers are “sneezers”. Music and theater aficionados. Sports enthusiasts. Leadership and entrepreneurial experts and coaches.

Says Seth: “‘Sneezers’ are at the core of any ideavirus. Sneezers are the ones who when they tell ten or twenty or 100 people about an idea—people believe them.”

Seth is onto something, as usual. As the last few years have heralded the rise of SEO and internet marketing, Seth and other groundbreaking thinkers give good evidence that 2013 will be the season of maturation for social campaigns.

Author Dan Brown used social media in a creative way to channel community engagement around his upcoming book. (Photo courtesy of Random House)

At present, most (but not all) companies recognize the need for social media. But even those who are actively engaging are lacking the ability to evaluate, to measure, and to manage their social media activities and campaigns. It is only by identifying and quantifying what social media provides for your company that you can determine where to focus your efforts and how much to spend.

Up until now, there’ve been no meaningful ways to put a value on Tweets, Facebook posts or other social media interactions. But the tide is starting to turn. As the means to measure and manage social media engagement, it’s going to change the way the world looks at communication and marketing. Again.

In its next phase, social media is focused on consumption and and activation (and these measures are certainly a big step beyond views and follows). Going one step further, getting people to broadcast your message – specifically the right people to broadcast it— is when social media becomes an out-of-the-ballpark success.

For example, I became aware several weeks ago of a social media campaign that culminated in the announcement of Dan Brown (author of Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code)’s newest book. Using a Hashtagart Mosaic from the company, Hyperactivate, Brown’s PR team (not my agency – but I’m jealous) used an interactive application to involve readers, fans, and viewers in the announcement of the title of his upcoming new book.

Dan Brown’s fans around the world used Twitter and Facebook to help unlock the secret image that would reveal the title of the book on the Today Show.

The result was one of the biggest and fastest spikes in Hyperactivate’s social media history (although they did not disclose numbers) to unveil the book’s new title—Inferno. The campaign launched the social conversation about the new book that will chronicle the author’s journey, fittingly, into the codes, the symbols and the passageways of 14th century author Dante and his famous poem “The Divine Comedy”. The dialogue has spun off and the conversation about the book is now spreading virally all over the world.

Definitely, the coolness factor of social media’s role in this kick off campaign is incredibly high. But why was this feat so significant?

In social media, the industry has put high focus on Influencers and how to identify them. Up until now, the great win has been to find the people in social media who have large followings or who talk on social platforms a lot. But Hyperactivate (and others like them) are beginning to recognize that real impact is not about the “Influencers”. It’s the “Taste Makers” (Seth Godin’s “sneezers”) who are the most important target by far. These are the people who don’t just spread the news—they inherently activate their own fans and followers to action when they have something to say.

Social media activation is on the verge of becoming mature. Up until now, marketers’ biggest challenge has been the inability to relate social marketing efforts to revenue in a meaningful way. How much is a Tweet or a Facebook post worth? (Contributor Ken Krogue could give you some answers—but he’s a fairly lone voice in this emerging arena so far.) Hyperactivate is now providing some answers. According to company representatives, their newest platform will track every view, every activation, and every dollar spent back to the Tweet or Facebook post that originated the sale. Is this possible? I look forward to giving the platform a try and will commit to return and report my results. The company also notes that with this capability in hand, marketers may discover in some cases that it isn’t the “influencer” they hit with the message that mattered the most, but the fact that the content hit the right nerves of the right people. Sometimes a tweet goes viral not because of who said it, but the user said just the right thing (and I would privately note that no matter who said it, someone of the right influence picked up on the hot viral item and allowed it to spread). Soon we will know.

Creativity and fun will continue to matter in social media. A lot. For example, digital music service Spotify used Hyperactivate to create a Hashtagart Mosaic where music lovers can use their Facebook or Twitter accounts to enter a post about their favorite song of the year. The widget interacts with a blank “canvas” that uses the picture and post from each entrant to fill a tile on the resulting mosaic. When the mosaic is full, Spotify will hold a celebration to commemorate the top songs of 2012. All music enthusiasts will see the other entries and can play the songs that interest them from directly within the mosaic. This kind of fun and engaging social media application will become the name of the game in the coming few seasons as opposed to programs that simply share information and prompt people to like simply for the ability to see upcoming tidbits and news. It will be interesting to see how this level of social engagement will influence the number of transactions and the revenue that companies like Spotify will achieve in 2013.

What will these developments mean during 2013? We’re all in the learning process together – but I am willing to bet my next Diet Coke (that I haven’t sneezed on) that among our many advances, 2013 will be a seminal year in our ability to track and map the revenue we derive from our social campaigns.

Additional reporting for this article provided by my agency associate Adam Torkildson, Sr. Associate for Snapp Conner PR. Disclosures: SnappConner has no client relationships nor any agency dialogues with the companies mentioned in this article (although we think they are cool).

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Devin, I’m not surprised – I’m increasingly amazed at the kind of impact it can have on so many issues, business being only one of them. We live in interesting times, and much of this development is good. Thanks for your note! -Cheryl

Au contraire, Marilyn – I know you have an iphone and you use social media, so you’re in it. So if there’s a message you share, getting it into the hands or shared by the people who not only spread it like fire but also have high credibility with the people who follow them is a big opportunity for everyone to be on a much more playing field for a great idea to result in widespread appeal. I love the concept. Thanks for your note! Cheryl

Very insightful Cheryl, thanks for covering this issue! Dan Brown’s campaign is a prime example of how rich media engagement is changing the face of social media. I’m quite confident that we’re going to see much more vibrant and interactive advertising, especially in the mobile realm in the near future as more brands strive to take their campaigns to a new and more exciting levels.

I agree, Rk – the landscape is moving under our feet. Even more crazy and interesting is the ways Communications, marketing and sales are all beginning to merge and converge. We’re in for a crazy ride – but what an opportunity as well. Thanks for your note. -Cheryl